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  • Title: [Economic activity of Third World women and perspectives on the decline of their fertility].
    Author: Samman ML.
    Journal: Tiers Monde; 1983; 24(94):367-76. PubMed ID: 12312445.
    Abstract:
    Despite recent efforts to achieve a better understanding of the economic roles of women throughout the world, progress has been impeded by the lack of available statistical material concerning their employment. The importance of women's productive activity remains unrecognized in most of the Third World because it is largely accomplished outside the cash sector and is not included in any statistics. 72% of women in developing countries live in rural zones, where they are occupied in production, processing, storage, and preparation of foodstuffs. Many also assist the family budget by selling foodstuffs and craft products. The role of women in agriculture and commerce varies in different regions; it is estimated that 60-80% of agricultural labor in Africa and about 40% in Latin America is female. Third World women have also found employment in labor intensive industries such as electronics and textiles. The active female population grew from 1950-75 at 2.5%/1year in Asia, 1.9% in Africa, and 3.2% in Latin America. Major variations are seen in the female participation rates of countries within the same regions. The number of women working in the nonorganized sector is not known. Particularly in cities, most new jobs have been in the service sector. Prior to the spread of the capitalist mode of production, the productive and reproductive roles of women were equally significant and compatible, and women had a greater weight in family and community. With the separation of the cash and subsistence sectors, women were increasingly relegated to the least prestigious and least remunerative sectors. When forced to seek work in the modern sector, their lack of education and the persistence of traditional sexist practices allowed them to find only the least qualified, most poorly paid, and least secure jobs in the primary, secondary, or tertiary sectors. The introduction of technical development into Third World countries benefitted women very little, since it was usually addressed only to men. Although migration for many women had a fertility dampening effect, for many others it reinforced their attachment to reproductive traditions. The maintenance of high levels of fertility among Third World women, despite their participation in paid labor, can be explained in part by tradition and religious values and productive roles of children, but also by dissatisfaction with the low level employment conditions available to them.
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